As Marianne Szegedy-Maszak states in “The Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal: Sources of Sadism,” everyone has the potential to be a torturer (Szegedy-Maszak 76). According to Szegedy-Maszak, the “unconscionable acts” committed at Abu Ghraib were likely caused by “the anxiety and helplessness” of their living conditions in Iraq (76). In attempt to investigate the motives behind sadistic acts in situations similar to the Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal, Philip G. Zimbardo, author of “The Stanford Prison Experiment,” held a study in which twenty-one “normal-average” male college students were brought to a “mock prison” to observe the influences of imprisonment on psychological behavior (Zimbardo 107-108). The analysis was originally designed to last for two
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In Zimbardo’s mock prison, the “prisoners” are stripped of their individuality: all of the prisoners are issued identical uniforms, are to behave in the same manner, follow the same routine, and to comply with all of the rules given to them from their guards (Zimbardo 106-107). In a similar fashion, marines are also ridded of their identity. Sgt. Martin Smith, a retired member of the U.S. Marine Corps, describes several of his experiences in “Learning to be a killer,” stating that he was made to divorce himself from his previous identity as a civilian (Smith). The marines in “A Few Good Men” were likely trained the same way, giving Jessup the means to dehumanize them. When everyone has virtually the same appearance, behavior, and routine, it is easy to forget that they are humans, thus causing the process of dehumanization. Kelman claims that dehumanization causes the abuser to exclude their victim or victims from their “moral community” (Kelman 17). It is likely that this is a common yet unconscious part of nearly everyone’s day. Most people would agree that there are certain persons that are seen as being “below” the average stature, whether it be in a social or other matter. In result of this, people tend to treat those persons as if they are not worthy of the treatment shown to other humans either by saying hurtful things or by other means of harassment and therefore dehumanizing
In Zimbardo’s mock prison, the “prisoners” are stripped of their individuality: all of the prisoners are issued identical uniforms, are to behave in the same manner, follow the same routine, and to comply with all of the rules given to them from their guards (Zimbardo 106-107). In a similar fashion, marines are also ridded of their identity. Sgt. Martin Smith, a retired member of the U.S. Marine Corps, describes several of his experiences in “Learning to be a killer,” stating that he was made to divorce himself from his previous identity as a civilian (Smith). The marines in “A Few Good Men” were likely trained the same way, giving Jessup the means to dehumanize them. When everyone has virtually the same appearance, behavior, and routine, it is easy to forget that they are humans, thus causing the process of dehumanization. Kelman claims that dehumanization causes the abuser to exclude their victim or victims from their “moral community” (Kelman 17). It is likely that this is a common yet unconscious part of nearly everyone’s day. Most people would agree that there are certain persons that are seen as being “below” the average stature, whether it be in a social or other matter. In result of this, people tend to treat those persons as if they are not worthy of the treatment shown to other humans either by saying hurtful things or by other means of harassment and therefore dehumanizing